Horizon tops Wahtonka twice for fourth straight victory

Horizon Christian baseball coach Jim Brown said early last week that he would like to see his team get three wins in three games.

And now that the Hawks have made good on Brown’s wish, they can start to think about how to finish the season with the best record in the program’s history.

After beating Lyle on May 6, Horizon won both games of a Friday doubleheader at Wahtonka by scores of 8-4 and 19-2, raising its Big Sky Conference mark to 4-4.

Even more impressive, the Hawks won their third straight league game and fourth straight overall to put them in third place behind league leaders Condon and Sherman County.

“We accomplished a number of firsts on Friday,” Brown said. “It was the first time we have won a league doubleheader, and it was also the first time we have swept a season series. Plus, the four league wins ties the most ever for our program (1996).”

Horizon, now 5-12 overall, can add to that milestone if it wins one of four remaining league games against Sherman County (Tuesday, results not yet available), Condon (Friday doubleheader at home) and Culver (May 20).

“Now that we have our full team, we’re playing a lot more consistently,” Brown said. “And we weren’t hitting the ball particularly well at the beginning of the year, so hopefully that will be the difference the second time around with these teams.”

Brown said he expected Sherman County to throw its No. 1 pitcher, who shut the Hawks down on April 25. But he is also starting to believe in his offense more over the past five games.

“We’ve been putting the ball in play and have been more patient at the plate,” he said. “We have good team speed, so as long as we can get on base, we can score runs.”